


Bulletproof Heart, Hollow Point Smile

by how_about_no



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Domestic Fluff, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Jealousy, M/M, POV Bucky Barnes, Pining, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 11:08:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8100154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/how_about_no/pseuds/how_about_no
Summary: Bucky is sick of his mother constantly pestering him about getting a girlfriend, so he enlists his life long best friend for help.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Fake relationship.... lets go

Love for family is something that everyone has. It’s irreplaceable and unavoidable. Right now is one of those moments when Bucky wished he didn’t love his family. Then he could happily hang up on this awkward conversation and feel next to no guilt. It’s a real struggle.

“Yes, ma,” Bucky rolls his eyes, not really listening anymore, “I will find myself a nice girl one day. Just not now, okay? It’s not the right time. Plus, I’m pretty sure Steve would crash and burn without me.”

“The other way round, actually.” Steve pipes up from his place next to Bucky on the sofa. Usually Bucky would leave the room to make phone calls, but when it was his mother, he and Steve both got a turn talking to her. So the TV is currently paused on an especially charming frame of Arthur frowning at something stupid Merlin must’ve said. Steve is way more into this TV show than Bucky, so half the time he isn’t really paying attention. It’s a pretty safe assumption, though.

“He’s fine, yeah.” Bucky smiles at his mother’s concern for Steve. She never really got used to the fact that he wasn’t that spindly teenager that hardly made it through bad winters anymore, “Still an annoying piece of work, but he’s _my_ annoying piece of work.”

 _“It’ll be sad when you two finally live apart.”_ His mother’s voice is fond, _“You’ve been inseparable for so long.”_

“Yeah,” Bucky looks over at Steve, who’s watching the conversation with a small smile, even though he can’t hear what Bucky’s mum is saying, “It sure will be.”

 _“Now hand me over to the lug, I want all the important updates.”_ Bucky chuckles and says a quick goodbye before giving the phone to Steve, who nearly snatches it out of his hand in excitement.

“Hello, Winifred.” Steve’s smile is blinding, “I’m fine, thank you. The shop is doing pretty well. Sales are up this month, because of the new Batman film coming out,” He laughs, “I know,” A pause. Bucky can hear his mother’s crowing laughter, “And how are you?” He nods seriously, “Maybe you should get that looked at? You may look 30, but excuse my manners, ma’am, unfortunately you’re not. Has my pal Teddy told you about his replacement?” He frowns, his lips pursed, “That’s understandable. I’m sure it won’t hurt to go? Just to see?” Steve always had a way of speaking that made anyone feel comfortable enough to tell him anything. It was obvious that his mother would not be able to resist that concerned tone of voice Steve uses in situations like these, “Of course we would come with you! You don’t have to do anything alone you don’t want to,” A pause, “Sure. Anything.” He laughs again, a blush high on his cheeks, “He is,” His eyes catch Bucky’s, who raises his eyebrows in silent question, “Yes, I’m very lucky to have him too.”

“Aw, shucks.” Bucky waves a hand, smiling and pretending to swoon.

“I’ll hand you back to your real son now,” Steve grins at whatever his mother says, “And you’re like a second mother to me, ma’am. Bye now.”

“Sometimes I swear she prefers you over me.” Bucky says conspiringly as they exchange the phone once again. Steve shrugs but doesn’t say anything. The smug expression he’s wearing says everything anyway, “Right, ma, I’ll talk to you in a few days, okay?”

 _“You remember you’re meant to be coming down here next week, don’t you_?” His mother reminds him.

“Yes, ma,” Bucky picks at the hole in the knee of his jeans, “How could I forget? It’s in big pink letters on the calendar.”

 _“Oh, I do wish you had a lady, James.”_ His mother sighs, _“She would be a lucky woman.”_

“She would, but Steve needs me for now.” He doesn’t mention that he wouldn’t be interested anyway. A relationship doesn’t sound like something he wants right now, he’s happy where he is.

 _“Steve, Steve, Steve,”_ Her smile is audible, _“You’d think you were seeing him, the way you talk!”_

“So what if I was?” Bucky raises an eyebrow even though she can’t see him, “He’d be the luckiest man in the world.”

_“He would.”_

“You’ve gone awfully quiet.” Bucky frowns, “Would it really be so bad if I was seeing a man?”

 _“Not at all!”_ His mother says loudly, offended, _“I was just thinking, that’s all. Is he coming with you?”_

“We’ll see.” He casts a glance Steve’s way to see the man frowning slightly, confused.

_“I hope to see him, then. I’m sure you’ll convince him, James.”_

“I’m sure I will,” Bucky snaps his eyes away and looks at the TV, feeling his cheeks heat up, “I’ll see you then, ma. Love ya.”

_“I love you too.”_

“What was that about?” Steve asks once Bucky has hung up.

“Just her nagging about me getting myself a dame.” Bucky shrugs, “Nothing new.”

Steve nods but looks unconvinced. As usual, he can read Bucky like a book, knows not to say anything, and they simply go back to watching Merlin.

 

It’s a few days later when the subject comes up again.

Steve is humming out of tune along to the radio, swinging his hips slightly as he makes their usual Sunday pancakes.

“Someone’s in a good mood.” Bucky comments, leaning his hip on the counter. Steve jumps and nearly drops the spatula, but manages to catch it again in his other hand as he spins around.

“Yeah,” He recovers with a smile, “I’m just happy to have a day off.”

“You have every Sunday off, Stevie. Why is this one so special?” Bucky moves swiftly past him to grab two plates from the cupboard, then puts them on the side next to the stove. Immediately, Steve flops the first pancake on the top plate.

“It’s been a busy week,” Steve looks at Bucky over his shoulder, “I’m looking forward to not having to think about comic books for 24 hours.”

“But I wanted to have a batman marathon!” Bucky complains, hopping up on the counter and flicking the kettle on.

“No.” Steve points at him with the spatula, “How is a dame ever going to put up with you?”

“I don’t need a dame, I’ve got you.” Something funny happens to Steve’s face, but Bucky ignores it.

“Your mom seems pretty adamant.” Steve watches the batter sizzle, and Bucky watches Steve.

“My mom’s a traditionalist,” Bucky shrugs, then hops off the counter to make himself and Steve some coffee, “She wants me to find a nice girl and settle down, have a couple of kids. I’d give anything to get her off my back, but the only thing that would is-”

“A relationship.” Steve finishes for him, gently.

“A relationship.” Bucky repeats, handing Steve his cup. He takes a grateful sip before putting it down and flipping the pancake.

“Couldn’t you just,” Steve frowns, “Fake it? Get Nat or someone else to pretend?”

“She’d never believe that.” Bucky takes a sip, “For one, Nat and Clint clearly have something going on. And two, it’d need to be long term and what reason would I have for hiding our relationship? Ma would see right through it.”

“She is clever.” Steve pours more batter, his mouth twisting, “I don’t know what else you could do.”

Bucky thinks back to his conversation with his mother a few days ago. There was one thing she would believe.

“What about you?” He says cautiously, watching Steve’s shoulders for a reaction.

“What _about_ me?”

“We could pretend to be in a relationship.”

“ _What?”_ This time Steve _did_ drop the spatula.

“Uh-” Bucky suddenly regrets the idea, “I mean, you don’t have to. It was just a suggestion. My ma said that she wouldn’t be surprised if we were together and I mean, being secretly with a man is a good reason to keep a relationship from her and-”

“Okay.” Steve stoops to pick up the spatula, meeting Bucky’s eyes when he straightens.

“Okay?” Bucky puts his mug down and takes a step towards Steve’s back.

“Yeah, okay. What would this involve?”

“Um, we would just pretend to be together for the trip, I guess. If you’d come with me.” Steve simply nods, “You would do that for me?”

“I’d do anything for you, Bucky.” He still isn’t looking at him, set on making perfect pancakes apparently.

“I know.” Bucky leans on the counter next to the taller man and watches his profile, “’Til the end of the line and all that. It would just be for the week, then we can just go back to normal and leave my mom thinking we’re together.”

“Yeah.” Steve smiles at him, almost convincing, “No problem at all.”

“None.” Bucky’s eyes narrow as Steve looks back down at the pan and puts the pancake on the plate with the others.

“I was thinking blueberry for next Sunday?” Steve looks up again, his smile slipping into something more genuine.

“Anything you want.”

*

“We gotta get our stories straight or my ma will see right through us and it’ll be over, like that.” Bucky slides a finger across his throat, watching the streetlights shoot by as they drive down the highway, “She’ll be on my ass even more after, and you can bet on her milkin’ me apologising ‘til the end of time. That woman can hold a grudge, let me tell you.”

“I know, Buck,” Steve laughs slightly, “Remember Mrs Doris in third grade?”

“Oh my God!” Bucky slaps a hand over his mouth, “She hated her!”

“All she did was say that you were a mean kid. Glares for years.”

“Pretty sure if they bumped into each other now, ma would still hate her guts.”

“Undying loyalty,” Steve shrugs, his hands still at 10 and 2 on the wheel, “It’s a good quality to have.”

“You’re such a Labrador puppy, _Jesus_.”

“No need to call me Jesus.” Steve says completely seriously, and Bucky just looks at him for a moment before punching his shoulder, “Not while I’m driving! What was that for?”

“Shitty joke, that’s what that was for.” Bucky looks out of the window before giving into his instincts and asking, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, Buck, I’m not a fragile kid anymore.”

“No, you’re a fragile _adult-”_

“Buck-”

“-And I don’t wanna end up hurtin’ you or some shit-”

“Seriously, Bucky, come on,” Steve says loudly, making Bucky fall into silence, “Drop it.”

“Sorry.” He sinks further into his seat and stares out of the window again. A few tense moments pass before Steve sighs.

“So,” He says lightly, “What’s our story gonna be?”

“I was thinkin’ we’ve maybe been together since we moved into the new flat.” Bucky nibbles on some lose skin around his thumb, still not looking at Steve, feeling berated.

“Two years,” Steve tests the words on his tongue, “Okay. Let’s say we got together naturally. It just kind of happened.”

“We gotta be more specific than that, Stevie.” Bucky straightens up again, looking around the car as if for inspiration, “She’ll want a story. She _always_ wants a story.”

“How about,” Steve stops, pressing his lips together, “We were watching a movie, sittin’ real close-”

“Closer than friends should.” Bucky adds, nodding along.

“-Exactly,” Steve agrees, then continues, “Then, outta nowhere, you kiss me and that’s that.”

“Why can’t you kiss me?” Bucky complains, waving a hand, “I wouldn’t make a move unless I was totally sure and you ain’t easy to read.”

“You know me like the back of your hand, Buck, let’s say you knew.”

“The back of my hand gets new marks every day, that ain’t a good comparison.”

“You know what a meant.” Steve rolls his eyes, hands adjusting on the wheel as he changes lanes, “Would that do?”

“What film were we watching?” Bucky asks, and they both think for a moment, before saying at the same time-

“Pinocchio.”

“Jinx.” Bucky raises an eyebrow, “Now, why did we hide it? She’ll be kinda hurt so we need a damn good reason.”

“Same reason anyone hides they’re gay. You were scared she wouldn’t accept you.”

“She wouldn’t believe that.” Bucky shook his head, “I tell ma everything, we need something else.”

“What about my mom?” Steve suggests, eyes firmly staring at the road ahead, “If I were in a relationship it would take a lot for me to take them to her. Maybe I wasn’t ready, and you promised to wait to tell your ma after we told mine.”

“Steve-”

“Don’t make this into a pity party, Buck,” Steve frowned, “Would that work?”

“Yeah,” Bucky nods, “Yeah that would work.”

He remembers the exact day they found out, ten years ago, when Steve came to Bucky’s house with red, puffy eyes and his mother’s teddy bear clutched in his scrawny hands. It had been a long time coming. His mother was diagnosed with leukaemia a few months before, and told there was nothing that could be done to save her.

She was going to lose the battle eventually, but it still killed Bucky to see Steve so torn up after losing his mother.

Every year, Steve visits her grave on her birthday, his birthday, mother’s day, and Christmas. Sometimes, when things have been hard, Steve would disappear for a few hours and come back with lighter shoulders and a ghost of a smile on his face. Apart from the funeral, Bucky had never been to the woman’s grave. It was something that was Steve’s, and Steve’s alone.

It would be understandable if Steve had hesitated to take Bucky to his mother’s grave, to tell her about the relationship. For some reason this lie feels a little too close to home, but Steve has that tension in his shoulders that means he won’t back down no matter what Bucky says.

So, he concedes.

“You’ve gotta acted whipped, by the way.” Steve says casually, pushing the grey clouds aside that had probably fogged both of their minds for the last few minutes.

“What?” Bucky reels back, “If you’re talkin’ about some kinky shit, I swear to God Steve-”

“No!” Steve wrinkles his nose, “God no. Jesus, I was talking about being attentive, doing what I say. You’re a stubborn piece of shit most of the time, but if we’re in a relationship you gotta not be.”

“I’m not stubborn.” Bucky crosses his arms and slouches in his seat, and sees Steve raise an eyebrow in his peripheral.

“You’re being stubborn _right now.”_

“Am not,” Bucky says, then curses, “Okay, maybe you’re right. I’ll be whipped, or whatever, don’t worry. It’ll just be like when you’re ill, but all the time.”

“Exactly,” Steve shrugs, “Except instead of medication, you’ll be fetching me drinks. Instead of patting my back during coughing fits, you’ll be tying my shoelaces-”

“Tyin’ your shoelaces? That’s just too far-”

“Sorry, who’s doing who a favour here?” Steve glances at Bucky and laughs when there’s no reply, “Exactly. You’re tying my shoelaces.”

“You’re a little bitch, Steve, you know that?”

“I know,” Steve smirks, “But apparently you like that in a man.”

“Shut it.”

“You say such sweet things.” Steve pretends to preen, blinking at Bucky innocently before looking back at the road.

“What else do we need?” Bucky changes the subject swiftly, his cheeks heating up.

“We already know everything about each other, have a story, a reason for hiding it,” Steve bites his lip, and shoots a glance Bucky’s way, “Boundaries we need, though.”

“Boundaries?”

“How far we wanna go for the act.” Steve clarifies, licking his lips. Bucky finds his eyes dropping to them, and he quickly looks back up before answering.

“We ain’t fucking.”

“Obviously.” Steve scoffed, “I mean- do we- do we kiss? Would you be comfortable with that?”

“Um-” Bucky considered it, imagine Steve’s lips on his own, how it would feel. His stomach flips and his heart pounds. Maybe they would just peck so his ma didn’t get suspicious, or maybe they would kiss properly, make it convincing. Maybe Bucky would suck on Steve’s bottom lip, eliciting a moan from the smaller man, an enthusiastic reply. Maybe Steve would get into it, slip his tongue between the seam of Bucky’s lips, deepening the kiss until they were both swallowed up in it- “Yeah- yeah I guess so. If we’d need to,” He presses his lips together, feeling the ghost of a touch that was never there, “Would you?”

“Yeah,” Steve nods, frowning slightly, “It would be okay, I guess.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah.”

“Are we near any services?” Bucky says, trying to break the heavy atmosphere that had fallen over them, “I gotta piss.”

“There’s one in two miles,” Steve says, then smirks, teasing, “Think you can hold it ‘til then, _babe?”_

“I’ll try, _sweetums.”_

“I believe in you, _honey.”_

“Aw shucks, _daffodil._ You’re too kind. _”_

“Only for you, _sugar lips.”_

“We’re gonna kill as a couple, Stevie,” Bucky smiles, tilting his head so he can stare at the other man’s profile, the light hitting it just right and making him glow, “I just know it.”


End file.
